American Lean Weekday: Leadership | Lean Culture & Intrapreneurship | Lean Methods | Industry 4.0 | Case Studies

Have a sage and wonderful New Year and thank you for listening! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/what-to-include-in-your-lean-training-part-4/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan

Since it is near the end of the year and your company might consider Lean training, I thought I'd give you an early present and cover what to include in your Lean training. This is not an exhaustive list- I'm breaking the topics up over several weeks. Up to this point, we have covered 12 other Lean topics- Lean History, VA vs. NVA, the 8 wastes, 6S, Current state and future state VSM's, waste walks, PICK chart, RIE's, A3's, setting up an LPO and developing a Master Plan and RIE report-outs. If you cover these topics, I know you will have a very solid start in educating employees on Lean topics that will benefit your company immensely! It's helpful to add workshops for many of these topics to keep people excited and engaged when we can all get into a training room again! 1. Flow tools & balanceOne of the most important elements of Lean is being able to flow products or processes. Think of a river. You don't want a bunch of delays in the flow of product or information as items pass through your systems. Delays lead to increased lead time, which affects your customer and impacts cash-flow. There are many flow tools to use in understanding how you build your product. The first high-level tool is value stream mapping. Then you can use process flow diagrams and product families to understand which parts belong in a family-based upon process commonality. You can use resource calculations to calculate how many resources you will need to produce a certain volume of product. Once you understand how many resources are required, it's important to lay out the resources in an efficient manner so your product can flow. The closer you can come to the product process flow diagram, the better your flow will be, because the process flow diagram shows the most efficient way to build the product. Spaghetti diagrams- where you follow a part through its current state, visually show the state of your current flow. It's called a spaghetti diagram because, more than likely, your flow will resemble a bowl of spaghetti. Now it's time to develop a future state flow. You can try using cells- self-contained layouts where raw material enters and a complete part leaves the cell. These are great for supporting families of parts. A key element for setting up a successful cell is balance. It's important to set up a cell where each step in the operation has about the same amount of work content as the other ones. You want to produce a product from the cells based upon a Takt time- a German word for rhythm or beat. We base it upon customer demand and let you know how often you need to produce a product. 2. Pull Systems (Kanban)You try to flow your product as much as possible, but when you can't flow it, you can pull it using a visual signal called Kanban. Kanban is a Japanese word that means signal. It can be a card, it can be an X on the table. It signals your operators when to do work or when to stop doing work. The purpose is to signal you only when more items are needed. If you don't have a signal to product items, you don't build. This is a powerful tool for controlling inventory and WIP and works well in freeing up inventory dollars. 3. Setup reduction/TPMYou might think that setup reduction is only applicable to a machine shop. It's applicable anywhere you have a setup. Maybe you need to switch between computer software to do your job. That's a setup. Regardless, teach the steps of setup reduction. 1. Identify what setup to focus on. This might be a high-moving part. 2. Video the setup. Use two cameras and video the setup. One closer to the setup where you can see the operator and one farther away so you can see where he/she goes. 3. Review the video and write down the setup elements. Mark them as VA or NVA. 4. Either eliminate the NVA steps or do them externally to the setup. Operators might shut the machine down, then go get the paperwork. That is internal to the machine. The machine must...

Employee engagement is going to make or break you on your Lean transformation. For those that are interested in a successful Lean Transformation, I have a secret for you. Lean is about changing the culture of your organization. Ask yourself, how do I turn my employees into daily problem solvers? One success indicator of employee engagement is having them drive the transformation effort within your company, but how do you get there? Here are five ways to engage employees during your Lean transformation. First, let's talk about what the end state looks like. Ideally, you have developed a supportive culture that develops over years. You want a support system driven from the bottom up. Most organizations are top-down driven. That looks like a typical triangle organization structure. The top leader speaks, and everyone works to carry out those directives. To truly have culture change, you need to adopt a more supporting servant leadership style of managing. Each level provides support to the one above it, and employees are driving the transformation. It is the leader's job to provide support and remove roadblocks. This servant-leader culture looks like an inverted triangle. That's great, you might say. I can see from the graphic how it is supposed to work, but how does my company get there? How do we drive daily problem solving into the organization and change the culture over time? How do we embed Lean thoughts and processes into our company's DNA so that this isn't some flavor of the month program? Here are five opportunities that you can use during your Lean transformation to get employees engaged and excited about culture change. 1. Have a clear vision and present it to the workforceThis means you have developed a True North vision and your company's Lean Management System. These two items share with employees which is important to the company. After these are in place, you can reinforce company values and goals during daily stand-up meetings with employees. 2. Have daily stand up meetingsIf you aren't having daily 10 minute stand up meetings, begin having them. This is a perfect time to review 1. Safety issues 2. Quality issues and review elements of the Lean Management System. It will take time, but eventually, employees will open up and share opportunities for things to improve in these meetings. 3. Have all employees attend Lean trainingIt doesn't have to be super intense but provide training that introduces employees to Lean terminology and a few key concepts like Value Stream Mapping and Rapid Improvement Events. The key is to have everyone in the company take part in the training. This lets everyone know that you are taking the Lean Transformation seriously and it will not become a book of the month program. 4. Ensure the workforce is involved in Lean activitiesInvite employees to develop Value Stream Maps, take part in 6S activities, and be in Rapid Improvement Events that occur within your organization. One of the eight wastes is Not Listening to People's Ideas. You must include employees in these Lean activities. They are the ones on the front line every day. They know where the waste is in their processes. Engage them to make improvements within their areas. 5. Celebrate!Make sure that at the end of every 6S event, Rapid Improvement Event, or Value Stream Mapping event you have them report out to the leadership team. As leaders, make sure you support and celebrate their efforts. Thank them for participating. Recognize that they are nervous during the report out. Celebrate the fact that you have gotten 5-8 more people engaged in the process! If you follow these simple steps, you will engage employees during your Lean transformation! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are...

What is the purpose of your business? Is it to make money as many people believe? I took finance during my MBA program and finance says your goal is to generate shareholder value. That doesn't sound like a great rallying cry for employees. “We have to focus on increasing our shareholder value in 2021.” Yeah, no. How about you find better ways to focus on the customer in 2021? Can you use that to engage and energize employees? I bet so, and if you make improvements in that area, I bet your revenue will increase. 1. Review your True NorthHopefully, your True North focuses upon the customer. If not, give it a review. Here is LinkedIn's- “to connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful”. Nike's is to “Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world*”. The asterisk says if you have a body you are an athlete. Take the time with your leadership team to review your True North and make sure it makes sense. 2. Instill it in the company cultureNow that you have a relevant customer supporting True North, how do you ensure your company walks the walk? Maybe you had outside help in developing your True North and hired a firm to make a nice graphic, posters, etc. Now the heavy lifting begins. Instilling your True North into the company culture. Every employee has to understand their role in supporting the customer. Supporting the customer has to show up in their employee review language and employee plans. Begin every meeting reviewing the True North until everyone has heard it 2,000 times and then you have a good start. Ensure your actions and the actions of those you lead to support the True North and the customer. 3. Map the Customer JourneyNow that your enterprise culture change is beginning, map the customer journey from the time they click on the website or pick up the phone until the product or service is delivered to their door. Where are there multiple points of contact required of the customer? What are your response times in your call center? What are your first call resolution statistics? Use items like value stream mapping and customer journey mapping to “see” where you can make improvements. Make sure these events are cross-functional and have input from employees in every area of the business. Ensure that your IT group is part of the mapping as well, so they can understand there is a difference between pretty and functional. Or high-tech and meeting the needs of the customer. 4. Develop your 2021 improvement planAs a leadership team, develop your improvement plan. Where do you need to focus on improving the customer experience first? Second, etc.? Deploy the resources required to make the improvements. Establish the correct metrics to measure your performance. Survey your customers. Then survey them again. Consider using the Net Promoter Score to compare yourself to others in your industry. Ensure the improvement plan is moving forward as planned. Discuss it in leadership meetings. Make sure leaders involve employees across the business. This helps you cement your True North and drive employee engagement. If you follow these steps and focus on the customer in 2021, you will have an incredible year! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/uncategorized/focus-on-the-customer-in-2021/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan

Merry Christmas to all of our listeners, clients, companies, family and Friends!

Organizations have dramatically sped up their digital transformation activities. The pandemic has made companies consider a digital transformation much sooner than before. Companies of all sizes realize they need to transform. To help guide you, here are the top roles for a successful digital transformation. 1. Solution ArchitectJust like it sounds, a solution architect develops the overall strategy for the digital transformation. Think of the solution architect as the techie that can explain software solutions to the leaders in the organization. They explain how software and digital solutions solve business problems. 2. Data ArchitectNow that you have a system-wide view of your digital transformation, you will need a data architect. Their role is to develop the data management plan. How will your company collect, analyze, protect, and maintain data? These are questions that a data architect answers. 3. Chief Digital OfficerIt's great that you want to undertake a digital transformation, but why? Because everyone else is doing it? The Chief Digital officer understands the revenue streams, Omni channels, new business opportunities, and customer services that will benefit from the digital transformation. 4. Database AdministratorDatabase administrators do what their title sounds like. They work closely with data architects and ensure data is stored and organized properly. Their primary goal is to ensure data is available when needed. This includes making sure you complete backups, data is seamlessly available from cloud providers, etc. 5. Cloud SpecialistsBecause you keep more and more data off-premise these days, i.e. in the cloud, cloud specialists are extremely important. They manage edge computing opportunities and manage business solution software that is kept in the cloud. 6. Data AnalystsThese are your go-to employees that can retrieve, gather, and access data. We are in a data-driven world, and these employees help us make sense of the massive amounts of data your company collects.  They help provide a data-driven approach to decision making. If you want to know the top color of your product that is sold in Aurora, Colorado data analysts can provide that answer. 7. User Interface (UX) designersRemember Blackberry? Everyone had a Blackberry phone. The slang name for them was crackberry because everyone used them all the time. Where are they now? The iPhone came out in June 2007 and it killed Blackberry phones. Why? Because the iPhone had a much better user interface. You didn't have to scroll using a little button in the middle of the phone. UX designers focus on developing a positive interface between the customer and the business. They are customer advocates and communicate customer needs to the team building the website, product, etc. 8. Systems IntegratorsThere is no out-of-the-box solution that will meet the needs of your digital transformation. You have many legacy systems that have to stay in place. Systems integrators ensure these systems communicate with each other.  If you embark on a digital transformation in 2021, these are the top roles for a successful digital transformation.  As always, it's an honor to serve you, and I hope this helps you and your organization get a little better today. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/uncategorized/top-roles-for-a-successful-digital-transformation/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan

Since it's near the end of the year and your company might consider Lean training, I thought I'd give you an early present and cover topics to include in your Lean training. This is not an exhaustive list- I'm breaking the topics up over several weeks. If you cover these topics, I know you will have a very solid start in educating employees on Lean topics that will benefit your company immensely! It's helpful to add workshops for many of these topics to keep people excited and engaged when we can all get into a training room again! 1. Rapid Improvement Events (Kaizen)Last week I mentioned the eight wastes and PICK charts. Pick charts are impact/effort matrices and the letters stand for Plan, Implement, Challenge, and Kill. As you develop countermeasures for the waste you identify on your Enterprise Value Stream Map (EVSM) run those ideas through a PICK chart to select the best ones to implement. Focusing on the ideas in your Implement quadrant (low effort/high impact) it's time to schedule Rapid Improvement Events to eliminate the waste. What's an RIE? An RIE is the implementation method used by thousands of companies to make the change. RIE's are focused efforts 2-5 days long focused on a specific area of the business. The goal is to complete 90% of the work or change within the event. Having led over 400 RIE's, I can tell you they can be company changing. It's also important that the RIE's will make improvements to the overall business KPI's. Don't hold RIE's just to have activity. You are working to make the company better and impact the bottom line. But, before you have an RIE you first need to develop a… 2. Project Charter/A3Every RIE should have a project charter, sometimes called an A3 developed for the event. If you don't do this, you can suffer from scope creep and you won't get everything completed in your timeframe. The project charter makes sure you think about what we can accomplish in a 2-5 day timeframe and not try to boil the ocean. 3. Master Plan and LPONow that you have your RIE's identified, it's important to develop a three-month master plan of events. This provides your company with an implementation roadmap. If you can, give some thought about who to include in the RIE's so they can get the event on their calendar. Establish an LPO or Lean Promotion Office where you can display the three-month schedule among other items like the A3's, and RIE report outs, value stream maps, etc. 4. Rapid Improvement Event Report OutsFinally, after each RIE, it is important to have the team members make a small presentation to leadership that tells the story of the event. Make sure as the event is happening you take pictures since you will want to include them in the report out. It's a chance for the team to share their hard work and for leadership to show their support. These are four more great topics to include in your lean training! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/topics-to-include-in-your-lean-training-part-3/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Digital transformations are important in today's world. Even if you are an “old-school” manufacturer- you make stuff- you still have to find customers. It could be there are ways to increase the digital aspects of your products. Regardless, this will require change, and the best way to approach it is to unleash your intrapreneurs. Here are five steps for supporting your digital intrapreneurs. Step 1- Find a customerCompanies are spending millions on digital transformations. They believe if they install the latest software, they'll have a digital company. It doesn't work that way. The latest software might make you more efficient, but it won't allow you to develop new products. Your internal entrepreneurs- intrapreneurs need to be in charge of that. One of their first tasks should be to understand what the customer wants and needs. Do your customers want product extensions or increased digitalization of your current products? You digital intrapreneurs should find out from some of your best customers who are also different from each other. This way you hear from customers with different needs and use cases. Step 2 – Find company sponsorsIf you don't have an intrapreneurial culture today, leadership representatives will have to remove roadblocks so the digital intrapreneurs have a chance at seeing their offerings all the way through. Choose managers who will go out of their way to ensure the intrapreneurs get the support they require. Step 3 – Knowledge of company digital technologiesMany employees today are digital natives. They have grown up with technology and use it daily- sometimes minute by minute. It's not an issue of understanding how to use technology- it's about learning and understanding what to do about digital opportunities. The opposite is also true. It's important the intrapreneurs you select understand how to identify digital threats. Make sure your digital intrapreneurs can work with the sponsors to develop entirely new digital use cases if required. Step 4 – Let them follow-throughMotivating intrapreneurs isn't hard. They have an entrepreneurial attitude. The worst thing you can do as an organization is to de-motivate your intrapreneurs by bringing in “professionals” at the end of a project to implement the digital solution. Allowing them the chance to implement the digital transformation required to transform your products and services or they will bolt your organization. There is no shortage of companies willing to hire them. Step 5–Develop an intrapreneurial cultureIt will take time, which you may not have. Work with business leaders to develop an open and creative culture so you can attract and maintain intrapreneurs. Have your middle managers keep an eye out for talent that asks a lot of “why” questions. Like, why do we do it this way? Have you thought about this? Customer X is doing… These are potential intrapreneurs. Put these five steps for supporting your digital intrapreneurs in place so they become engaged and have a place where they can feel safe and be successful! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/five-steps-for-supporting-your-digital-intrapreneurs/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Let's talk about what 2020 taught leaders and the rest of us, but first a story. The Voyager spacecraft was leaving our solar system in 1990 and NASA had it take one last picture since it was leaving our solar system. Voyager was 3.7 billion miles from the sun. What it captured has become known as the pale blue dot picture. Its impact is more than a picture. It shows Earth from the perspective of the edge of our solar system and how insignificant Earth looked. You can barely see it in the picture below. If 2020 has taught us anything, it has taught us to: Keep PerspectiveIf you are reading this or hearing my voice on the podcast, congratulations. You made it through 2020. Maybe you have had family or team members lose someone in their lives. I'm sure you've read about the many job losses and changes to people's livelihood. Hopefully, you have been spared that kind of impact on your life. It's easy to complain about the changes you've endured as a leader this year. Keep perspective for great things you have had this year and… Have a role model mindsetIt's more important than ever to act as a role model for those you lead. Given the tremendous strain your employees have been under, it's important you show them how to act and react when situations arise. We can't predict the future, but you can as a leader… Remain ConfidentIt's important to believe you will figure things out. Have the belief you make the absolute best decisions given the information you can gather. Have the confidence your team will follow your direction and do their best to carry out the company vision. Has your company had to pivot? There are those that have done extremely well during the pandemic because they… Don't waitDid you grow or create when things changed? I hope we are all aware that fortune goes to those companies that take action. Don't wait till the right time to take action because that time will never come. Leaders show upYou show up because you want to be a servant leader. You understand it's important to lead the employees who are lost or have questions. You may not become famous as the pilot Sullenberger when he showed up as a leader in a short time of crisis. Do it because you want to make a difference in being a leader. Great leaders also aren't afraid to… Ask for helpAs we transition into 2021 don't feel like you have to go it alone. Find mentors and others from whom you can learn. Go back and listen to the leadership episodes on my podcast. Hopefully, they have added value to your leadership journey and you can reflect upon what 2020 taught leaders. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/what-2020-taught-leaders/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

One of the key elements on my American Lean Weekday podcast is the weekly interviews that I conduct with companies on their Lean Journey. These companies are from various industries and are all different sizes. I have interviewed leaders from family-owned businesses to multi-national organizations. This week is a little different, I share the mic with James, a buyer at a Multi-National Fortune 100 company. He shares inside secrets on supplying a Fortune 100 company. James is unique in that he worked with both a supplier to Fortune 100 companies and is now a buyer from the same supplier base. He has been on both sides of the equation. Some key points:  As a supplier, they grew from 3M to 16M and used their Lean journey as a sales tool.  Their customers included Boeing, Northrup Grumman, Woodward, and other large Primes. These Primes were looking for systems and processes that would improve OTD, quality, and price. They were expecting improvements in operations as well as office processes like accounting. Primes are looking for suppliers that can handle terms of 60-120 days. They want suppliers that are flexible and can handle re-schedules in today's environment. They want suppliers that can communicate in a concise manner. Suppliers that can take on a large amount of work and separate themselves from others are key. Key Tips:1. Have a website that is brief and includes your equipment, approvals, is current and correct! Supplying a Fortune 100 company means you need to constantly update your website. 2. Share your Lean journey. Include before and after pictures. Be vocal about the improvements that you have made! 3. As a company, your ROI will be greater if you bring in outside consultants to guide you on your journey. They will reduce your learning curve! As always it is an honor to serve you and I hope you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/inside-secrets-on-supplying-a-fortune-100-company/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

It seems like we are just learning about Industry 4.0 and the enablers that will impact that digital transformation. Now companies are discussing what Industry 5.0 looks like. Earlier in the year, I talked about the use of cobots to support Industry 4.0. Industry 5.0 is based on humans and robots working together in close proximity. Given the advances in sensors, cobots no longer need to be kept in a cage away from humans. Smart sensors deployed on a cobot allow the cobot to work directly on an assembly line alongside human counterparts. Some of the smaller cobots only weigh 30 pounds and can handle about 6 pounds of material. These cobots can complete tasks such as screwing screws or tightening bolts into place. Tasks typically completed by humans today. Larger cobots can handle activities like machine tending, packaging, material handling and driving larger screws and tightening bolts. Given a large variety of grippers, they can handle many tasks. How will this drive Industry 5.0? 1. They will be deployed to improve the customization of mass-produced productsImagine if Sony 3D printed the outer case of a PS5. Yes, the new Playstation due at any time from Sony. What if you were giving this as a Holiday gift and wanted to engrave a personal note on the outer case. A Cobot could handle engraving unit after unit with each note being unique. No setup required. Customer units could be kicked off the production line and a cobot could add the customization and the unit could be added back to the production line to continue its journey into a box. 2. Product InspectionCobots can be used as the primary inspection tool for products and suspect units can be routed to an employee for further verification. They could be deployed alongside employees in a line and using vision sensors ensure that the employee completed the work required at their operation. Product assembly errors are dramatically reduced when a cobot is part of a check, do, check scenario. 3. Deburring and CNC machine tendingWhat would happen in your machine shop if a cobot could unload machined parts from a CNC machine, deburr the parts and then neatly stack them for movement to the next machining operation? Advances in deburring flat and rough surfaces are happening at a rapid pace. Having a cobot arm next to the machinist would allow the machinist to monitor and manage additional machines. Reducing deburr operations means there is less “blending” of a surface that a talented deburr operator needs to accomplish. They can focus on completing more complicated deburr work that the cobot can't complete. In Industry 5.0 your co-worker might not want to go out after work for beers, but it will help you get more done and make your work a whole lot easier! As always it is an honor to serve you and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/did-you-know-there-is-an-industry-5-0/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Since it's near the end of the year and your company might consider Lean training, I thought I'd give you an early present and cover what to include in your Lean training. This is not an exhaustive list- I'm breaking the topics up over several weeks. If you cover these topics, I know you will have a very solid start in educating employees on Lean topics that will benefit your company immensely! It's helpful to add workshops for many of these topics to keep people excited and engaged when we can all get into a training room again! 1. Current State Value Stream MappingFrom an implementation perspective, value stream mapping should be one of the first activities you conduct. The purpose of a value stream map is to visually show where the waste is within your processes. Value stream maps are icon-based and introducing students to the icons should be covered. There are different icons for the current state and future state maps. Cover process boxes, collecting information for the process boxes, putting process boxes in the correct order, and then adding more detail by adding additional icons. Share what triangles mean in a value stream map- inventory or time and how to collect that information. Talk about taking the value stream map and walking it backward to catch any steps you might have missed. Finally, share how to draw a timeline across the bottom of the value stream map to show the relationship between value-added and non-value-added work and the % of value-added work. 2. Future State Value Stream MappingOnce you identify where the waste is within your processes in your current state value stream map, it's important to develop a future state value stream map. A future state value stream map uses different icons- icons that represent pull systems, FIFO lanes, supermarkets, and level loading. The purpose of a future state map is to provide a road map for your improvement activities. Depending upon your organization, it may take several years to approach the future state that your map depicts. Place the map in your Project Management Office (PMO) and continually work toward it. 3. Conducting a Waste WalkConducting a waste walk happens after you develop your current state value stream map. As you walk your map backward, take notes on the waste you see in the different processes. Have the team members take notepads with them and have them identify wastes that fall into the eight waste categories. After walking your vsm backward and taking notes, teach the team to put the wastes they identified on your DOWNTIME chart. Remember, the eight wastes can form the word DOWNTIME. Have them take their best guess which category the waste falls under. 4. PICK Chart (Impact/Effort Matrix)Now it's time to educate your team on brainstorming ideas to eliminate waste. It's great to identify and classify the waste, it's more important to eliminate it. Have the team brainstorm ideas for eliminating the wastes on the DOWNTIME chart. Take those ideas and place them on an impact/effort matrix. Teach the team to focus on the ideas that end up in the Implement quadrant. The easy to do/large impact quadrant. The ideas from this quadrant, based upon the identified wastes within your value stream map, form the basis of kaizen events moving forward. Schedule the kaizen events one quarter at a time and conduct them. This will help you head toward your future state design. Next week I will cover more on what to include in your Lean training. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/what-to-include-in-your-lean-training-part-2/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the...

For companies that are developing their Lean transformation, a key element for supporting the transformation is sharing information within the company, and engaging employees. Establishing a Core Team of representatives from different functional areas helps with that information sharing. You should also rely on your core team to support company culture. There are several steps to establishing this infrastructure properly. Believe me, selecting the right employees to be representatives on the core team will help your business transformation immensely. If you choose well, your transformation will excel and you can utilize these resources to have a positive impact on your company culture! 1. Establish your Governance TeamRegardless if you have been on your Lean journey for years or if you are just beginning, establishing a governance team is key to success. The Governance Team consists of leaders who affect the direction of the Lean transformation. The Governance Team's purpose is to establish the Lean Management System, develop the business KPI's that will be tracked, support enterprise Value Stream Map development, and supply resources and support for the Lean and culture transformation. 2. Establish a Core TeamThe Core Team consists of representatives from the functional areas of the organization. All the areas need to be represented. A true Lean transformation affects every area of the business. Core Team members share information with their functional areas. They generate excitement about the transformation. They represent their functional areas in joint meetings with the Governance Team. They drive any Lean training required. They act as subject matter experts for their areas in Value Stream Mapping events. They work with their departments to identify and capture improvement opportunities. They mature processes by developing standard work and training. These important team members are your conduit to supporting your company culture. 3. Use the core team to support the cultureBecause the Core Team members have a huge influence on the success of the business transformation, they are the perfect resources to keep your company culture intact during these trying times. Ask them to “take the temperature” of the group during monthly Core Team meetings. They can capture where employees are struggling. Since they already have established meeting times with their functional team members, ask them to be a communication conduit about what is happening inside the company. During their Core Team meetings, establish a time to talk about company culture and capture improvement opportunities. Let them share small wins with their areas and capture small wins as well. If you take these steps you can rely on your core team to support company culture! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/rely-on-your-core-team-to-support-company-culture/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Leading employees is never easy. It is more complicated given the current restrictions as we all know. Regardless, here are six leadership traits for today you can rate yourself against. If you are looking for future leaders, these are prominent traits to consider. Trait 1 – ApproachableSince you probably aren't in a face-to-face situation, your employees must know they can approach you with problems/concerns as they arise. This doesn't mean you have to be available 24-7 but are there “office hours” you can set up so employees know when they can approach you? It's important to let everyone know they you are available and approachable to help answer their concerns. Trait 2 – CalmWhen employees approach you with problems, it's important to remain calm. It's okay if you don't know the immediate answer to a problem, but approach situations with a sense of calm. So much is different for your employees right now, they need a calm presence in their lives. Trait 3 - Have an open mindBusiness environments are constantly changing, especially now. There are always going to be new processes and ways of doing things. Make sure you keep an open mind to solutions your employees bring to the table. I wish I had a dime every time I heard someone say that's the way we have always done it here when I ask why they do what they do. Don't have your employees park their brains at the door when they come to work. Continually ask them for better ways to do things and keep an open mind to their suggestions. Trait 4 – AdaptableAlong with having an open mind, it's important to be adaptable. Your first reaction to suggestions for change can't be that will never work here. Think about how the suggestion could work and succeed. Work with your employees using a kaizen mindset to make change successful. Trait 5 – ResponsibleYou own the success of your area of the business. Take full responsibility for the success or failure of your area. This means when things don't go to plan, you don't play the blame game. You look for course corrections and work with your team to implement the changes. Your employees will model your behavior. When they see you taking responsibility for your actions, they will do the same. This increased accountability among everyone will develop a high-performance team. Trait 6 – Assertive and respectfulThis doesn't mean you are a yeller or treat people poorly. You won't have a team if you don't treat everyone with the utmost respect. It means that you can assert yourself in Zoom meetings that have gotten off track. It means you assert yourself with your boss to support your team members. It means you assert yourself if you see situations that don't support your culture. You can be assertive and respectful at the same time. So, reflect and consider how you stack up against these six leadership traits for today! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/six-leadership-traits-for-today/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Industry 4.0 is being accelerated by what is happening during the pandemic. If you or any of your employees would like to learn about the growing need, learn about what https://www.msscusa.org/ (MSSC) has to offer! Upskill for industry 4.0. CPT 4.0 is a nationally portable, industry-led program that prepares and certifies individuals for career pathways in advanced manufacturing. This online training program delivers the 21st Century, in-demand skills that today's employers need for over 6 million frontline production jobs. CPT 4.0 is delivered and customized locally through 1,500 MSSC Centers with a network of over 2,300 Authorized Instructors at colleges, secondary schools, and other convenient locations. Well-Established Technologies already included in MSSC Production Standards: Computer numerically controlled (CNC), Statistical Process Control (SPC), Six Sigma, Total Quality Management (TQM), Lean, Robots, Sensors, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Human Machine Interface (HMI), Lasers, Mechatronics, Plan-Do-Check-Act, Root Cause Failure Analysis, Pareto Analysis, Barcodes, PC Ethernet, Variable Frequency Drives (VFD). Newly Emerging “Industry 4.0”: 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Autonomous Robots, Additive (3D), Data Analytics, Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Augmented Reality, Nanomanufacturing, Advanced Materials. MSSC's full Certified Production Technician 4.0 (CPT 4.0) certification consists of 5 stackable credentials: Safety & Employability, Manufacturing Process & Production, Quality Practices & Measurement, Maintenance Awareness, and Green Production. The CPT Plus certification complements the full CPT credential by providing employees with proof that an individual has the comprehensive technical knowledge and hands-on skills needed to be qualified production technicians. Help your employees upskill for industry 4.0! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/upskill-for-industry-4-0-with-mssc/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, companies can pivot quickly and produce entirely different products in a short period of time. The need for ventilators, n95 face masks, and other personal protective gear has made companies pivot quickly. Are you adopting Industry 4.0 quickly enough? Even organizations as large as General Motors (GM) have pivoted. They won a $489MM award to build 30,000 ventilators for the US Government to https://www.wsj.com/articles/gm-to-make-30-000-ventilators-for-national-stockpile-in-489-million-contract-11586347203 (stockpile). They will deliver all 30,000 by the end of August 2020 which is only five months since they began the process. What does this prove? Manufacturers typically think in a linear fashion. We do x, then y, then z. Supply chains take years to develop, except when they don't. Many companies have pivoted quickly to produce products to fight COVID-19. Now with social distancing requirements that will probably be here for a while, companies of all sizes are facing pressure to increase the speed of Industry 4.0 adoption. Cobots, 5G networks, big data, additive manufacturing are all elements that need to be deployed quickly for increased worker safety. Here are some suggestions that can help you adopt elements of Industry 4.0 quickly. 1. Develop a Smart Value Stream™We use a Smart Value Stream™ to develop what your Industry 4.0 opportunities look like quickly. This information provides you with a plan and time frame for adoption. It shouldn't take months to develop what your future state can look like. It should take days. 2. Start small and inexpensivelyAs you can see above, there are many elements for a full Industry 4.0 digital transformation. Does that mean you have to implement all of these enablers at once? Of course not. Start with a smart plug. Smart plugs can be attached to a sensor and provide them with more control functions. It can be programmed to act as a timer, counter, or a frequency monitor. Regardless, there are inexpensive ways to learn how Industry 4.0 works in your business. 3. Get professional guidanceThis isn't a DIY project. There are communication protocols, cyber-security, data storage and retrieval issues, hardware and software concerns. Too many moving parts to manage yourself. Get referred to someone that you can trust that has done digital implementations before. Make sure they are partnered with a firm that understands manufacturing. There is nothing worse than setting tech people loose in your factory without a firm grasp of manufacturing. I know that you can use these guidelines for adopting Industry 4.0 quickly. As always, it's an honor to serve you and I hope this helps you and your organization get a little bit better today. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/are-you-adopting-industry-4-0-quickly-enough/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Since it's near the end of the year and your company might consider Lean training for next year, I thought I'd give you an early present and cover what to include in your Lean training. This is not an exhaustive list and I'm going to break this up over several weeks. I'll cover more topics through the end of the year. So stay tuned! If you cover these topics, I know you will have a very solid start in educating employees on Lean topics that will benefit your company immensely! It's helpful to add workshops for many of these topics to keep people excited and engaged when we can all get into a training room again! 1. Lean HistoryPeople need to know Lean isn't something new. It wasn't invented by Toyota. You can trace the roots of Lean to Frederick Taylor, who understood if you divide work evenly among multiple people, you can produce a product quicker than one person building the item can. This was in the late 1800s. Henry Ford used that concept to build millions of cars and it revolutionized the auto industry. Today Lean is used in many industries, from hospitals and financial services to manufacturing. Don't spend too much time on this, just provide some background. 2. Value-added and Non-value-added workSomething the customer will pay for is value-added work. Just about everything else is waste. The entire goal of Lean is to identify and eliminate waste from processes. Not eliminate people. When companies say they don't have time to work on eliminating waste, it's because they spend too much time conducting nonvalue-added activities. Rework, building scrap, dispositioning scrap, looking for things, traveling, etc. When you eliminate the waste, you do less firefighting. 3. The Eight WastesNow that you've mentioned waste within processes, it's time to introduce the eight wastes. Put these in this order so they spell the mnemonic DOWNTIME. Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Not Listening to People's Ideas (N), Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Excess Processing. Have employees identify wastes in their areas that fall into these categories. This gets them thinking. Write them down on a flip chart. 4. 6S6S is a cleaning and organizing method. Each step begins with the letter S. Sort, Shine, Set-in-place, Standardize, and Sustain. This is a key Lean method and where many companies begin their Lean journey. The key to drive this home is to show pictures of areas that have gone through the 6S process. Share before and after pictures. Show pictures of what a mess the area was before and what it looks like after everything is in its place. You can discuss if your company will conduct 6S audits or use a better method, which I will share in a later blog. Next week I will cover more on what to include in your Lean training. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/what-to-include-in-your-lean-training-part-1/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

I'm sure preparing for 2021 is on the minds of many organizations this time of year. Given the strange year it has been, I'm sure we all want to move on from 2020. To prepare these weekly blogs and podcasts, I do a lot of research. Like many things, the impact of working from home depends upon the company culture you already had in place. Here are three ways the pandemic is impacting your company culture. A study by https://www.qualtrics.com/research-center/quartz-qualtrics-study/ (Qualtrics) shared that 37% of 2100 employees who took part in the study felt that company culture had improved. 52% of those asked felt more purposeful in their work since the pandemic started. Another interesting stat is that 68% of the employees want to work remotely some or all of the time after the pandemic. Some key company abilities affected by the pandemic include:  1. AgilityI've mentioned this before. The pandemic has pushed initiatives that were coming in a few years into this current time frame. Digital transformations, the ability for large numbers of the workforce to work from home, different business models. These are all being explored and implemented as quickly as possible. Take the airline industry. They have seen demand for their services drop by as much as 70%. I just read that United Airlines is beginning the first transportation of the COVID-19 vaccine. They are taking advantage of a built-out delivery structure to deliver the vaccine to locations far and wide. 2. InnovationAlong with agility comes innovation. Can you think of new products that have come about because of the pandemic? A visit to Etsy will show you thousands of mask makers. What about masks being integrated into clothes? Athleta, Patagonia, and LL Bean are a few brands I've seen with these options. I'm sure eight months ago, they wouldn't have been in that position. 3. Focus on the CustomerIf the demand for some goods and services is shrinking, you better focus on the customer. I think this is one positive that has come out of the pandemic. In the great times of the last 10 years, when you could ship anything you made to willing customers, companies have had it too easy. Lean is a very customer-centric method and considers the voice of the customer. Hopefully, this small reset makes companies re-evaluate their customer journey and make adjustments where necessary. I believe the companies that support the customer the best will come out on top as we move through these trying times. Customers will remember the companies that performed for them. I hope you've enjoyed learning three ways the pandemic is impacting your company culture. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/three-ways-the-pandemic-is-impacting-your-company-culture/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Leading employees is never easy. It is more complicated and messy given the current restrictions as we all know. There are still ways that you can lead with courage. Take a minute to review these and ask yourself are you a courageous leader? Since we have been recording history, there are many stories of leaders who acted courageously. Did they act courageously because they had to, or because that's how they learned to lead? Personally, when I think of courageous leaders- George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, etc. They are people who led in circumstances of crisis. A crisis is typically not a normal set of circumstances, nor is it expected. Sound familiar? When faced with a crisis as a leader, you can retreat or you can lead with courage.  Here are some elements that courageous leaders share. Tip 1 - Acknowledge people will struggle during the crisisSure, you can pretend that nothing is happening and everything will be business as usual. You can hold people to the same metrics and expectations as before the pandemic. You can pretend that employees will figure out how to work from home seamlessly with no interruptions to their daily work activities. Or you can lead with empathy and courage and acknowledge that your employees might struggle during the work from home situation. You can support them as they transition to initially working from home and then hearing it might not be a temporary situation. Tip 2 - Communicate often and communicate small winsIf your staff is remote, there is no such thing as overcommunication. Your employees are concerned about the future. Communicating small wins lets employees know that progress is being made, and the company is moving forward, although it might be at a slower pace. Sharing a simple message repeatedly, such as, “We are moving forward, and here's a win I'd like to share.” This type of courageous communication motivates and engages employees to keep pushing to make it through the crisis. Tip 3 - Share lessons learnedA Lean technique of servant leadership is to ask for lessons learned after Rapid Improvement Events or Kaizen occurs. The purpose of this is to allow employees to reflect on what they learned. Reflection is a great attribute for a courageous leader. There is no owner's manual for leading in a pandemic. As a leader, you have to try your best, see how it works, and then share lessons learned upon reflection. The mark of a courageous leader is to share those lessons learned with your employees. Sharing the fact you are learning along with them, helps them realize you are doing your best along with them and trying to lead with courage in a crisis. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/tips-for-a-courageous-leader/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

This week I get to interview David Goodreau the President of the Small Manufacturers Institute and he shares their mission and passion for helping small manufacturers. David helps design and implement programs that make manufacturers more profitable and give people a career. His 40-year work history is as a machinist, manager, entrepreneur, and a builder/collaborator of non-profits that service industry and communities. The Small Manufacturers Institute (SMI) is his current focus, building an expandable workforce strategy that solves skilled labor problems through the management of a framework of local stakeholder networks. A life of working within small manufacturing firms as an employee, owner, and partner shape an individual and provide a credible advocate for manufacturers in the public arena. His bio speaks to the experience of understanding the problems of manufacturers, and also, the confusing web of public and private support resources. As we read about our nation's new commitment to America's Manufacturer, never have we been so weak to respond to this opportunity. Forty years of decline in the industrial arts; increasing global and supply chain competition/consolidation; crippling increases in regulations and customer requirements; steady declines in participation and membership in manufacturing associations, industrial unions, and trade societies outline the challenges our organizations seek to solve. Together with the NTMA, we founded both the Small Manufacturers Association of CA (SMA) and Small Manufacturers Institute (SMI) to give our peers a voice. There is no greater challenge our country faces than to engage the manufacturing community in the process of leadership, education, and process improvement. Both SMI and SMA stand tall in the marketplace by reaching beyond our own needs to better understand and develop strategies that will work at getting the manufacturers to participate. No government program, incentive, or motivational conference can turn this around. This perfect storm of industrial apathy must be solved organically, driven locally through self-interest and sustainable value that increases profits. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/small-manufacturers-institute/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Cloud computing is seeing tremendous growth in many sectors and is being driven by companies such as Amazon, IBM, Alibaba, and Google. Because of the work from home situation, many of us have found ourselves in, the expected growth in this sector is expected to be 25% a year. Here are six advantages of cloud computing for manufacturers. 1. Simplifies product deliveryBecause cloud computing simplifies the delivery of goods and services over the internet, product delivery becomes easier. 3D printing is a perfect example of an industry that is benefiting from cloud delivery. No longer do companies have to purchase 3D printing systems. They can develop prototypes in CAD, upload those drawings to a 3D printing company, and take advantage of their 3D printing expertise. As a small company, you don't have to make the investment to benefit from rapid prototype parts, etc. 2. More collaborative product developmentEspecially since many employees are working from home, cloud collaboration tools make it easy for companies to develop new products remotely. Engineers and designers can access services, applications, data, and design software from anywhere at any time. These distributed services help reduce the lead time for new product development, which can allow companies to pivot quickly if required. 3. Real-time monitoring of machines and equipmentSeveral weeks ago, I interviewed a company that uses cloud computing to monitor sensors and switches on all kinds of production machinery. The company is a https://factorywiz.com/ (Factory Wiz). The information their services provide allows business owners to make better decisions regarding their business. Great examples of how cloud computing will benefit manufacturers. 4. Improved supply chain visibilitySupply chains for manufacturers can be quite complicated and volatile. Imagine trying to get exercise equipment from China during a pandemic. Or an appliance from South Korea. These items have been sold out for months. Using cloud computing, you can establish real-time connections, and applied with other technologies like RFID tags, you can know the exact location of anything within your supply chain. 5. Improves customer informationBecause cloud services can aggregate customer data from many different channels, manufacturers can develop a better picture of their customer base and their needs. Most CRM tools are cloud-based and provide manufacturers the ability to quickly identify and service customers when they contact you. Because they are cloud-based, they are more secure as well. 5. Virtual cloud desktopsThis is a relatively new service offering known as Desktop as a Service or DaaS. Employees only need a screen with some basic hardware, and the software is provided by cloud-based services. Users only pay for cloud usage, eliminating the cost of expensive hardware and continual software updates. These are all examples of the advantages of cloud computing for manufacturers! As always, it's an honor to serve you, and I hope this helps you and your organization get a little better today. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/advantages-of-cloud-computing-for-manufacturers/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Over the thirty years that I have been honored to work with companies, I have seen fantastic, mind-blowing results from Lean efforts. I have also seen companies lose interest after a short time. They treat their Lean innovation like a Book of the Month Club or get frustrated from a lack of results. Some organizations become paralyzed and never begin their Lean Innovation. To me, that is the worst situation of all. I would like to share some gotchas I have seen. Companies make their Lean Innovation more complicated than it needs to be. They gather too much data. They struggle with analysis paralysis. They confuse the workforce with Lean terminology. None of this helps the company improve. Use a simple roadmap for success. They put the success of the innovation in the hands of a few individuals. Leadership hands the effort to a few “Lean coordinators” and expects them to affect the bottom line. How can you drive real culture change if everything is left to a few people? There won't be engagement if they involve only a few employees in the innovation. The number of Kaizen or Rapid Improvement Events (RIE's) conducted is a Key Performance Indicator. This can lead to RIE fatigue. We schedule people into events they know nothing about. They are included in events to “check the box” that they were in a Rapid Improvement Event. To make your Lean transformation more successful I wrote a book called the Lean Game Plan which shares a four steps for a successful Lean transformation. Define your championship (Vision)The first step is for leadership to agree upon what the True North is for the organization. This translates into a Lean Management System. They must agree upon a few Key Performance Indicators that measure the performance of the business. I had a client whose mantra was to measure what matters. They went from measuring thirty KPI's to about six. Guess what? They gained much more clarity in their business decision making and they made rapid gains in a short time. Develop an Enterprise Value Stream map to identify waste opportunities which feed into your Lean Game Plan. Conduct waste walks and go to where the work is being done to learn. Establish a Lean Game Plan that includes Lean activities scheduled a quarter at a time. Employee training campsThis should go without saying, but I've seen many organizations skip this step or try to take shortcuts. It is important to train everyone in the organization on basic lean concepts. You aren't trying to make them experts but expose them to Lean concepts. This helps provide a background they can rely on when they take part in RIE's. Follow the Lean Game PlanUsing Value Stream Mapping as your backbone, identify waste in your processes. Focus on removing the waste using Rapid Improvement Events or Kaizen. Schedule the events a quarter at a time and make sure they occur. Ensure teams have a report out after every event. Video the report-out in case members of leadership can't attend in person. They can watch the recording and provide positive feedback to the participants after the report out. That feedback is a key ingredient for generating employee engagement and culture change. Half time adjustmentsReview your RIE library quarterly. After you have been conducting RIE's for a while, you will develop a library of events that are complete. Have a monthly meeting to review the events, formally close events, and ensure you are sustaining the gains. If you are not seeing improvement to your KPI's after two quarters, don't be afraid to make changes. Sports teams often make half-time course-corrections and your company should do the same! The organizations I have coached over the years that adopt this simple framework have better results compared to organizations that don't. They have benefited greatly by using these four steps for a successful Lean...

I'm sure preparing for 2021 is on the minds of many organizations this time of year. Given the strange year it has been, I'm sure we all want to move on from 2020. I have seen companies “decide” they want to implement Lean in the next year when they do their annual planning. What I rarely hear is we need to develop a culture that supports Lean efforts. To get you thinking along those lines, here are some elements of a lean culture. It starts at the topAny successful business or cultural transformation starts at the top. The same is true when trying to develop a Lean culture. One of the first things the leadership team needs to establish is the True North for the company. If it already exists, great. Then move on to the next step, which is to establish a Lean management system. A lean management system supports the True North of the company and becomes the “rules of engagement.” The Lean management system provides the elements the organization views as important to their success. I often present the Lean management system as a house. Regardless, it is an extremely important part of a Lean transformation. Having a servant leadership mindset are other elements of a Lean culture. “Inverting the triangle” refers leaders supporting those below them in the organization instead of a more command a control style of leadership. Focus on the CustomerAs you develop your Lean Management System, it is important to focus on the customer. Successful Lean cultures are obsessive in supporting the needs of their customers. This is a cultural element that separates them from their competition. Ensure you remain or become even more focused on the needs of the culture and communicate that throughout the organization- every day! Think of a company relentless about servicing the customer- Zappos. The founder passed away this weekend- but he took a business from $100,000 in sales and grew it where Amazon bought it for 1.2 Billion dollars. He built a culture focused on servicing the customer. Mutual respectCompanies with a Lean culture operate and communicate with mutual respect for everyone in the company. Many elements of a Lean transformation require people to get together in a room and problem solve or kaizen. The problem-solving or kaizen activity requires employees to have frank and open discussions to make the company better. This is much easier to accomplish if everyone's ideas are treated with mutual respect. Focus on eliminating wasteThe core of a Lean culture is a focus on identifying and eliminating waste in processes. Great companies spend the time and money necessary to train everyone in the company on how to identify waste and the tools used to eliminate it. If your culture follows a True North and has established a Lean management system, then training everyone is a great next step. Training everyone in the company on Lean methodologies will help you develop the elements of a Lean culture. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/elements-of-a-lean-culture/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

There have been great strides in developing vaccines for COVID-19, with four different companies announcing vaccines that will be available soon. While that is great news, the logistics of producing 300M doses in the US, keeping them cold enough for distribution- as cold as -100 degrees Fahrenheit won't happen overnight. That said, it's important as a leader to lead for growth next year. Here are three tips to lead for growth in 2021. Tip 1 – Re-evaluate your business planIf your business plan is based upon having physical locations, what steps can you take to increase the speed of your digital transformation? If you supply goods or services to industries that have been affected, are there complementary industries you can provide your goods and services to? Since things appear a little clearer, gather your leadership team to develop the best case business plan for the next two years. Then develop a plan B and a Plan C business plan. Everything that I have read says there will be a phased approach to delivering the vaccine starting with health care workers, people at risk, then the public. I believe it will take until the last half of the year before things return to a semblance of the past. I'm a pretty optimistic person. Tip 2 – Focus on company cultureIf you are like me, you are suffering from COVID fatigue. Many of your employees are being asked to work from home for the first time. The impromptu chatting with neighbors or in a break room has disappeared. Can you establish a morning coffee break employees can join? What about zoom cook-offs where employees can share home recipes and then show the completed meal? Look for ways to remind people that their hard work isn't going unnoticed. Can you provide gift cards for a meditation app? Can you purchase gift cards that can be used for a powerful massage gun like a https://jawku.com/ (Jawku) which can relieve sore muscles from sitting all day on Zoom? Peter Drucker said culture eats strategy for lunch. It is more important than ever to focus on generating or keeping a positive company culture as everyone adjusts pitches in to support your growth plans for the next two years. Tip 3 – Over-communicateIf your staff is remote, there is no such thing as overcommunication. Your employees are concerned about the future. Share with them the business plan for the next two years. Let them know what the B and C plans look like. Provide a forum where they can ask questions and have input into the business plan. The more they are heard, the more ownership they will take in making it happen. It's a tremendous way to get them involved and engaged to lead for growth in 2021!  As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/tips-to-lead-for-growth-in-2021/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

If you are like me, I'm sure you never stopped to think about where your turkey comes from- the turkey supply chain. As you can imagine it takes a large effort for the turkey to arrive at your local grocery store in time for Thanksgiving. Here are some interesting facts about Thanksgiving in the United States. The first celebration was held in 1621 and in 1863 Abraham Lincoln made it a National Holiday. It's estimated 88% of Americans will eat turkey on Thanksgiving. The interesting part is that over 220 million turkeys are sold in the United States annually. If you were to level that out, it is close to 1 million turkeys per working day. As we know, it doesn't work like that. The high points for turkey consumption is Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. We consume 46 million at Thanksgiving, 22 million at Christmas, and 19 million at Easter. Imagine having to produce 46 million of something to be ready for a single day. This requires an amazing amount of pre-planning and logistics. 18% of all turkeys are produced in Minnesota, 14% in North Carolina, Arkansas, and Missouri are large producers as well. Did you ever wonder why you typically buy turkeys frozen but you can buy a chicken un-frozen any time you want? The reality is, that is the only way to make 46 million turkeys available to be consumed in one day. It also explains why Minnesota is such a large producer- they can just store the birds outside and they will freeze. Just kidding. Turkeys are produced year-round and kept frozen. Turkeys that aren't sold for Thanksgiving can be sold for Christmas, etc. The suppliers do have to prepare about six months in advance to get the turkeys where they need to be. That's just the logistics side. Turkeys reach their size in about 14-18 weeks, so about 4.5 months. This year has been especially complicated because of COVID19 and the concerns of spreading the virus in large family gatherings. Many families are forgoing large get-togethers because of concern for older more susceptible members of the family. This has altered the demand for turkey size. Since smaller gatherings are happening, the request for smaller turkeys has gone from "give me the biggest turkey you have, to give me the smallest turkey you have." Turkey breast only options have also increased. These are better sized for 1-3 people. This year also brings an increase in families trying to cook a turkey for the first time. https://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/whole-foods-market-introduces-the-thanksgiving-turkey-protection-plan-to-insure-americas-most-anticipated-meal (Whole Foods) is teaming up with Progressive Insurance to offer a $35 gift certificate to the first 1000 people who make a claim of a ruined turkey. This is why there is always Chinese food as an option. Finally, I want to mention the https://www.butterball.com/about-us/turkey-talk-line (Butterball turkey hotline) which has been around for 30 years and receives about 100,000 calls per year. You can even access it through Alexa. If that isn't a sign of the times, I don't know what is. I hope that you have a fantastic and safe Thanksgiving and until tomorrow, have a great one. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/the-turkey-supply-chain/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Undertaking a business transformation is difficult. After all, who are the only people who like change? Wet babies. Depending upon where you start, it can take a lot of heavy lifting from many people in the organization. It's easy to get caught up conducting “activities” on a weekly or monthly basis, which is why it's important to slow down, reflect, and be grateful during your Lean journey. Henry Ford recognized the value of bringing people together to accomplish work and make improvements so a business could last multiple generations. He realized the opportunity to work together, really work together toward a common True North was a success. Does your company have that same mindset? Here are a few tips so your company can be grateful during your Lean journey. 1. Realize it's not a set of tools Many people think that undertaking a Lean business transformation is deploying a set of tools. I used to be that way as well. I was lucky enough to be part of a large Lean transformation in the late 1980s when I was a college student at the University of Cincinnati and co-oping at Huffy bicycle.  At the time, we didn't understand how a successful Lean transformation hinged on engaging employees and generating excitement in the organization. It wasn't until I studied more, learned more consulting with companies, and saw greater benefits from getting everyone engaged that it clicked. Benefit from my experience, Lean implementations should focus on activating and engaging your workforce to make your company better. 2. Support their efforts When you engage employees by having them take part in training, value stream mapping, and Rapid Improvement Events, make sure they have a report out at the end of the activity. Ensure that leaders in the organization are there to watch the report out. Nothing will kill employee engagement quicker than presenting to an empty room. If leaders say the business transformation is important, then show up and support the hard work your employees have done during the 3-5 days of the Rapid Improvement Event. 3. Thank them Now that you have shown up for the report out, thank the employees for their hard work. Realize they aren't expert public speakers and it takes a lot of courage to stand in front of their leaders and present what they did. Make sure the leadership team gives them huge congratulations and encouragement. Thank each participant individually if you can. Let them know how grateful you are for making the company better. Realize they your most powerful resource for building a successful company. I know if you follow these three steps you will be grateful during your Lean journey. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/be-grateful-during-your-lean-journey/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Staying with the theme of gratitude for this Thanksgiving week, I want to share some tips to develop a culture of gratitude. If you weren't aware, there are science-based benefits of being grateful. Productivity increases, job satisfaction increases, as does your mental and physical well-being. Here are some actions to consider. 1. It starts at the topAny successful business or cultural transformation starts at the top. The same is true when trying to develop a culture of gratitude. When leaders in the company recognize minor acts that would otherwise go unnoticed, others in the organization will do the same. Leaders the next layer down will begin doing the same and it creates a snowball effect. At first, it might seem odd, but like anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Eventually, it becomes more natural. 2. Be specificSimilar to what I mentioned in yesterday's blog, recognizing employees needs to be around a specific activity where the employee added value. Saying, “I want to thank Tom for showing up for work today,” doesn't have the same weight as “I want to recognize Tom for his input on our project to reduce our customer lead time from 6 to 2 weeks.” 3. Do it regularlyTry to thank someone daily. Yes, daily. It will be hard at first, but as you flex your gratitude muscle, it will get easier. Thanking people regularly is a lot more genuine than thanking them once a quarter or once a year during an annual review.  4. Provide opportunities for employees to give backOne way for employees to show gratitude is for them to give back to others in the community. Maybe you allow them a longer lunch occasionally to serve meals on wheels. You might choose a local school and provide resources to teach coding or business. I know early in my career I taught Jr. Achievement in a local high school. The company I worked at supported my time off for that activity. I know a company in San Fernando Valley that allows employees 24 paid hours a year to work with charities. This is a $15M a year company. It's based upon what is important to you as a company. 5. Make it easy to provide gratitudeI've seen companies with thank you walls where employees can leave large post-it notes on the wall thanking other employees. I've seen companies make thank-you notes available in break or lunchrooms so other employees can write hand-written notes and place them in a box. They share these over the company intranet on monitors throughout the company. Brainstorm what works best for your company and culture and try it! You'll soon develop a culture of gratitude. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/tips-to-develop-a-culture-of-gratitude/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Here in the United States, we are beginning Thanksgiving week, which occurs this Thursday. Often this time of the year people are flying to visit family and friends. They are scurrying to prepare a large festive gathering for friends and family. The wonderful pandemic has put much of that activity on hold. I think it's even more important this year as leaders to show your employees gratitude and here are five ways you can that.  1. Touch base this weekSince many employees won't be traveling to visit family and friends it is hard on them. Many employees look forward to the break to re-charge and enjoy friendships and spend time with family. I realize you can't take the place of the family but make sure you check in with each of your employees. Find out how they are doing besides whatever their work tasks are. They will appreciate you checking in with them. 2. Admit that it has been a strange year to this pointNo one could have predicted the pandemic and the changes that have occurred because of it. Working from home for extended periods of time. Not having a defined separation between home and work. Juggling parent duties and home school duties while trying to do their best work. It has been a very strange and hard year for your employees. Acknowledge that fact. I'm sure, like myself, everyone has COVID fatigue. We're tired of hearing about it, talking about it, and having it interrupt our lives. When you check in with employees this week, acknowledge it has been a struggle for everyone. 3. Share positive wordsYes, it has been a struggle. Your employees look to you to provide leadership and guidance. Make sure that you provide positive words of encouragement, thankfulness, and guidance. Identify 1-2 positive things each employee has accomplished during the year so far. As you reach out to your employees, share with them these positive things. Then... 4. Publicly recognize your employeesEveryone likes to hear their own name mentioned with accolades. Publicly show your employees gratitude by recognizing them and the tremendous strain they have overcome. Use the 1-2 positive things you identified above and publicly recognize them for those activities. Make it intentional and unique to each person. Yes, these last two steps will take some time. It's worth it if you want to be a great leader. Realize they aren't there for you, you are there for them and they need your support more than ever. 5. Say "Thank you"All of the above activities mean nothing if you don't say "Thank You" to each of your employees. Those two small words mean so much to people. Especially when it comes from their leader. If Doug Conant who used to be the CEO of Campbell Soup can write 30,000 thank you notes over his career, I think you can take 5 seconds and thank your employees. Ideally, do it individually when you check in with them this week. If that can't be accomplished, then thank the group, but individually thanking them is a great way to show your employees gratitude. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/five-ways-to-show-your-employees-gratitude/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

One of the key elements on my American Lean Weekday podcast is the weekly interviews that I conduct with companies on their Lean Journey. These companies are from various industries and are all different sizes. I have interviewed leaders from family-owned businesses to multi-national organizations. These are keynotes from a conversation with Mike Stankus, Chief Revenue Officer at Paperless Parts. Paperless Parts is a secure cloud-based quoting platform that allows collaboration and quoting quickly and easily. It resides outside your ERP system and provides enormous analytic capabilities measuring win/loss performance and other information for busy business owners. These are some key points taken from my interview with Mike:  Mike has been a sales leader in the technology space for the last 30 years. He has built companies to over $200 million in sales. He liked the mission and what he saw at paperless parts and joined the company. Everyone we talk to is aware technology can improve their business. Companies we talk to want to automate their quoting and also use the platform to make better decisions. Our client base ranges from mom and pop shops to shops that are hundreds of millions in sales. W Machine works is a successful company that is using paperless parts to capture their tribal knowledge. The primary thing companies are looking to do is turn around quotes faster with greater accuracy. Additional benefits include better collaboration using secure chat and tracking comments all along the process. Data analytics is another key benefit customers are looking for. We track quote time and show customers a win rate by turnaround time, by material type, by the customer, by lot size. Paperless parts makes the quoting user experience better by extracting dimensional information from the drawing or model and uses that to populate a quote. Our mission is great. We are helping American manufacturers, many family-owned businesses improve their competitiveness http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/paperless-parts-makes-quoting-quick-easy/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Two weeks ago, on my podcast, I interviewed a consultant who was part of a team that generated “hundreds of millions of dollars” in savings within the oil and gas industry. Knowing the vast landscape and impossible places that many oil rigs are in, it makes sense oil and gas is at the forefront of IIoT adoption. Here's what they are doing. 1.    Information Technology (IT) Given that oil and gas companies are undergoing a digital transformation, it makes sense they are highly leveraging information technology. Advances in information technology let oil and gas companies capture real-time performance data from their assets. Using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and developing digital twins within the IT arena let rig owners know immediately if their assets aren't performing as they should. In the example that Ben Griner gave on the podcast, he noted the client knew vibration was an element of concern when monitoring oil rigs. Using low power sensors that can send information to satellites allows these assets to share their performance information.  Taking this information and using machine learning and digital twins the oil and gas supermajor can predict when preventive maintenance needs to occur. This provides huge savings in operational efficiency and performance gains.  2.   Operational Technology Information systems are the broad category of collecting, analyzing, and using data and turning it into information. Operational technology is the hardware and software that collects the information and notices when a change has occurred. Oil and gas companies have recently begun integrating their OT and IT software and hardware. Like many other industries, they've adopted this model to prevent increased cyberattacks.  These are multi-million dollar assets they are collecting data from and sending that information via satellite. OT security is extremely important. Which leads to the next industry 4.0 technique. 3.    Cybersecurity The IIoT technology governs devices and information systems that transmit data over the network or are embedded with sensors, electronics, and software connectivity.  Because the devices transfer data without human assistance, data is transferred automatically and frequently. This prevents all kinds of cybersecurity opportunities.   Imagine having assets scattered all over the world in extreme conditions. Having sensors on those assets that upload information about their location, performance, output, vibration, etc., and uplinking that information to satellites. Having an integrated risk management and a cybersecurity strategy that integrates IT, OT, and risk is key to putting oil and gas at the forefront of IIoT adoption. As always, it's an honor to serve you, and I hope this helps you and your organization get a little better today. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/oil-and-gas-is-at-the-forefront-of-iiot/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

When people go through change they move through four stages of change. I cover the four stages in this episode. Denial Resistance Exploration Commitment Everyone goes through these changes at their own pace. In this podcast I offer ways to help this transition. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/develop-your-culture-to-embrace-change/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

If you have been around the change management world at all, you'll hear estimates that 70% of change initiatives fail. Why is that you ask? It often starts at the top. Leadership moved too fast with the implementation, there wasn't a focus on training employees on the new methods, etc. Often ignored is the fact the culture isn't ready to accept change. Especially today, it is important to develop your culture to embrace change! My bet is your business has made some changes to the way it operates. Maybe it's as simple as requiring everyone to wear masks. It could be you've moved more of your business to fulfilling online vs. a physical location. Regardless, how hard was it for you to accomplish? Did everyone pitch in and make it happen effortlessly? It's important that leaders instill a culture that embraces change. The hard part is that culture isn't a set of rules you write down and expect everyone to follow. Culture is a combination of the company mission, vision, values, norms and purpose. While the products and services may change a company's purpose should remain the same. Here are some steps to take to develop your culture to embrace change. 1. Identify a shared purposeYou might think companies that have been around a long time would have a harder time engaging younger employees to meet the demands of the future. It's important to frame your company's purpose in a way everyone can support. You might think Toyota builds cars. The reality is their purpose is to increase the mobility of humans. That is a larger purpose that employees can engage with and support. Another example is Nike. A simple view is they produce running shoes and athletic wear. Okay, but for whom? They view everyone as an athlete. Their purpose is “If you have a body you are an athlete.” A purpose like that engages employees to embrace change. 2. Develop your True NorthA True North takes into account the mission, vision, values, and purpose and acts as a constant reminder of the purpose of the business. It should guide every decision, every investment, every conversation within a company. Reflecting upon the True North makes embracing change much easier for employees because they know the why for the change. 3. Continually share the True NorthAfter you have defined your purpose and developed your True North, it is important to socialize the True North with everyone in the company regularly. I worked with a billion-dollar company that began every daily huddle reviewing a small piece of the True North. They were a manufacturer, and the basis of their True North was safety and quality. Once their employees understood those elements, they introduced more elements like measure what matters, employee engagement, and innovation. Over a short period of time, all 500 employees understood why they were there and embraced the changes we were introducing. If you follow these three steps I know you can develop your culture to embrace change! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/develop-your-culture-to-embrace-change/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

We hear a lot about servant leadership, but do you know what that means? More importantly, how do you implement servant leadership in your company? Servant leadership is not a natural way of leading, but you can develop servant leaders if you have patience, persistence and practice. I want to provide some tips in this blog. Tip 1 - Understand your current state Like any journey, it is important to understand where you are starting. Robert Greenleaf identified 21 pillars of servant leadership in the 70s. There are many assessments you can take as a leader to understand your current state.  Here is one that I believe will serve you well. https://www.servantleaderperformance.com/ola-quick-look/ (Organizational Leadership Servant leadership assessment is here.) Armed with this information, you can decide about what to improve next with you and your team. Tip 2 - Start with small teams You can't jump on a bike and ride 100 miles in a week without training for months or years. The same is true for developing servant leaders in your company. You won't change the culture overnight. It's important to start small and slowly allowing it to become part of your business. Begin with a small team of your key leaders and have them begin with the assessment. Meet as a team and discuss the results. Be open and operate with a judgement free mindset. For success, it's important your leaders feel free to share their starting points. Tip 3 - Challenge the team with questions Ask questions such as, “Are we moving in the direction of becoming a servant leader organization? If so where in the organization?” “Is this important to us as a leadership team? How will we benefit? What are the consequences if we do not do this? “Where can we try out servant leadership right now? Does our current culture support servant leadership? How will we hold ourselves accountable?” Tip 4 – Review each area of the business The next step in the journey is rollout servant leadership actions in the specific functional areas of your business. Conduct a review of each of your functional areas and try to identify a few that have the right leaders, culture and support for your rollout. When you identify the areas for rolling out servant leader activities, have those leaders identify actions they want to start, continue or quit. Using this framework allows the leaders in those expanded areas to reflect upon their actions and identify areas where they can improve. As they become more comfortable leading in a servant leader manner, use them to coach and direct others in the organization. Using this cascading will allow you to implement servant leadership in your company that will be successful! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here)More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/tips-to-implement-servant-leadership-in-your-company/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan  Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

One of the key elements on my American Lean Weekday podcast is the weekly interviews that I conduct with companies on their Lean Journey. These companies are from various industries and are all different sizes. I have interviewed leaders from family-owned businesses to multi-national organizations. These are keynotes from a conversation with Tim Bayer, President of Hansen Plastics in Elgin Illinois. https://www.hansenplastics.com/ (Hansen Plastics) is an employee-owned (ESOP) and they maintain a can-do attitude because their employees are also owners. Respect and trust for each other are key elements of their True North. They have over 70 molding presses pressing custom parts across multiple industries. These are some key points taken from my interview with the President, Tin Bayer.  We started our Lean journey in 2012. I was excited to bring my family in and show them the shop and it did not look good. The presses were a mess and it didn't reflect well on us. "I realized I was making excuses for people. It was a reflection on me." "We wanted to design our culture and not have it by default. It went the way of default and we let it happen. We decided we needed to make a change."  "we've been able to cut our customer complaints by 1/2 each year. We've had sales per FTE increase every year. Scrap has decreased by 32% year over year." Our backlog has gone down from $615,000 to $2,000. "Our employees are better leaders because of the growth, but they are also better parents and spouses as well!"  "It's not just about the dollars, people feeling good, positive energy, everything that makes people want to come to work and do their best."  "We would chase shiny objects when we began doing kaizens events in the plant so we began policy deployment about four years ago. That helped keep us focused."  "We wanted to maximize our greatest asset- our employee owners. A big surprise has been how hard they have gone after getting to the root cause and making change. "There is no perfection so just go do it." http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/hansen-plastics-sees-huge-success-from-their-12-year-lean-journey/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

I'm sure you have heard of the four P's in marketing. In a digital marketplace there will be 7 P's. Learn about them here! Price Place Promotion Product People Processes Physical Evidence http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/the-7-ps-in-a-digital-marketplace/ (here)https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

In this podcast I cover the five mindsets that hold companies back from getting started on a Lean Innovation. We're unique We're not Toyota We're high mix/low volume We don't have time We can't afford outside coaches Hear how you can overcome these mindsets and the benefits you will receive!http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here)More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/culture-intrapreneurship/five-mindsets-holding-you-back-from-your-lean-transformation/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan  Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Developing a communication driven culture is important if you are going to have long-term success, especially now. We all know that it is harder to communicate via Zoom or Teams or any of the other remote communication platforms. That doesn't mean you shouldn't make improvements in your communication.  I'm going to assume we have all been in a situation where we have received feedback we weren't happy about. What happened in this situation? How did the giver of the feedback provide the feedback? Proper feedback helps shape individuals by correcting mistakes, recognizes their strengths, and provides objectives that help them grow. Here are some frameworks that can help. 1. Build the communication infrastructure Starting day one when employees begin, establish the communication infrastructure you'll use with them. Since they are new to the organization and unsure of the culture, start with twice-weekly communication. Then the next month, it moves to weekly communication. After several months, work toward establishing a regular pattern. If you are gathering feedback from them about you as a leader, have them complete a form or provide feedback through an HR portal. Realize they will provide more honest feedback as they become more engaged with you as a leader. 2. Share the Why I've seen companies implement processes or make decisions without sharing the why, and it confuses employees. Employees want to understand why something occurs.  Organizations that stick to their True North can easily answer the why question. Referring back to the True North helps employees understand why a decision is made or why a process is changed. Make sure you are constantly communicating your True North with employees to help them understand the why. 3. Teach everyone how to give and receive feedback Delivering feedback isn't always easy. It's important to train employees on the proper way to give feedback. The tone, setting, and words used in providing feedback can add or subtract to employee experience. The opposite is also true. It's important to reinforce the company provides feedback because it has a continuous improvement mindset. It's important after providing feedback to develop an improvement plan together if needed. 4. Lead by example Employees look to leadership to see what they are doing and how they are behaving and responding. If employees see a good example, they will follow the lead. Realize employees aren't the only ones who should receive feedback, leaders should too from all levels. It's important as a leader you give and receive the feedback well is you want to develop a communication driven culture! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here)More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/do-you-have-a-communication-driven-culture/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan  Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

When you have a servant leader mindset, you are there for your employees and not the other way around, it's important to ask open-ended supportive questions. Realize that employees are struggling with homeschooling and working from home. Employees that live alone have had their social interactions change overnight. I want to provide some great servant leader communication for WFH employees. What was only a temporary situation is now becoming permanent? I read an article today that said many more companies are having employees work from home until June or July 2021. This is like being at an airport ready to board a flight and having it continually canceled. The frustration level keeps increasing and you never know when it will end. Being a successful leader in these times is difficult. What used to work probably needs to change. Leading now requires more caring and checking in on a personal level. Kindness is calming. Here are some suggestions for gently probing and finding where you can provide support. 1. I hear you It's important to be fully present when employees share their concerns and questions. Be aware of your facial expressions or sideways glances (grimaces) when speaking over video. I know when I was an employee it's important to feel that I was heard when sharing. You might not know how to respond, and that's okay. Sometimes people want to vent their frustrations. I know as an outside consultant I get vented to all the time. It's fine. I listen patiently and then work to put their concerns at ease. 2.  What can we do to help? Framing the statement this way, shares with the employee that more resources are willing to help than just yourself. It sends a subtle message that the team or the whole company is there to lend support. If they ask for help, provide it. 3.  How are you managing these days? Pre pandemic, we didn't have the insight into people's lives that we do today. Pets make themselves known on Zoom calls. Children interrupt with questions about school assignments. Maybe they need help to go to the bathroom. I suggest being flexible with work hours if your employees need it and the company can accommodate it. It might help relieve an enormous amount of work-related stress. 4. I know you are doing your best Believe it. Your employees are doing their best. They didn't ask for this. Many are seeing friends and neighbors losing their jobs. They're concerned. They are caught without separation from work and home. Many are working longer hours than before. People with school-age children are working after their kids are asleep expanding their day. They are doing their best, please acknowledge it. 5. Say thank you You can't say this often enough. Please let your employees know you appreciate them. Thank them. Over and over again. After all, they are what makes the company great!  I hope you can have great servant leader communication with WFH employees by using these comments. Let me know how it goes! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here)More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/great-servant-leader-communication-with-wfh-employees/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan  Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

One of the key elements on my American Lean Weekday podcast is the weekly interviews that I conduct with companies on their Lean Journey. These companies are from various industries and are all different sizes. I have interviewed leaders from family-owned businesses to multi-national organizations. These are keynotes from a conversation with Ben Griner from Persyst Consulting. https://www.persystconsulting.com/ (PerSyst Consulting) was founded in 2005 and located in Seattle, Washington is a nationally recognized consulting organization focused on organizational change, vision alignment, processes, and systems most importantly, digital transformation. These are some key points taken from my interview with the President, Ben Griner.  When you add hardware or software to a business transformation, it becomes a digital transformation. We evaluate a companies ability to perform a digital transformation on three things: If they have the operational competence to know what they want. Does the organization have the ability to keep sustained continuous improvement? Do they have the technical capability to leverage what they want to change in their business? Nike had one of the most successful connected devices launches ever recorded. It changed the nature of connected devices. Disney deploys a similar method with their magic band changing the face of consumer delight. Carnival Cruise line deployed their Medallion project allowing the cruise line to better manage employees, manage food and beverage, schedule employees better. This also allowed them to increase upsells and improve revenue while enhancing the guest experience. The results we astounding! Then look at oil and gas. They want to know how to anticipate maintenance on equipment. We can add technology to old environments. Technology provides all kinds of options even in remote places. In the case of our oil client, they saved hundreds of millions of dollars in improved operational efficiency and improved maintenance. Reach out to PerSyst Consulting if you need excellent support for your digital transformation! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here)More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/hundreds-of-millions-saved-in-a-digital-transformation/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan  Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

There are nine enablers in industry 4.0 and this podcast introduces them. Cybersecurity/blockchain Cloud computing Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Big Data System Integration Autonomous robots (cobots) Additive manufacturing (3D printing) Augmented reality Digital twins/simulation Learn about the technology changes coming to your company soon! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/introduction-to-industry-4-0/ (here)https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan

There are four simple steps I have road-tested over the years that will make your Lean transformation easier and successful! Follow these for success. Vision- Develop your unique Lean Game Plan Employee training camps- Train employees on Lean topics Execute the Lean Game Plan- Conduct Rapid Improvement Events (RIE's) Half time adjustments- measure and adjust http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here)More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/four-steps-for-a-successful-lean-transformation/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan  Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

I have spent a career working with American companies. All kinds of companies. Large ones, small ones, family-owned companies. There isn't much I haven't seen manufactured. I've worked with government agencies to help them as well. In some small way I have helped each company improve and become more competitive. I know Lean helps companies increase competitiveness and retain American jobs. Needless to say, I've loved every minute of it. I love America and I hope you do too! Show how much you love America and make the time to VOTE! All the best, Tom

Some great things are coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. One is the digitization of many businesses that need to evolve. This requires leaders to evolve and adapt as well. Operating in large silos and departments is hard to accomplish in a digital environment. Here is what future leadership looks like. 1. Manage across a value stream Having leaders within departments focus on their piece of the business will be harder to do when customers want goods and services quicker and delivered with increased convenience. Imagine a business with 10 different departments and a product has to journey through each department before going to the customer. Problems arise in the product's delivery because of two of the departments. Who is accountable to fix the problems? The department leaders? What if they take weeks to look into the issues? The customer still isn't getting what they want. A value stream is the processes required to bring about a good or service to a customer. This can be an internal or external customer. When leaders have control of an entire value stream, they can drive change quickly to meet the needs of their customers. 2. More diverse and inclusive A study by https://news.mit.edu/2014/workplace-diversity-can-help-bottom-line-1007 (MIT) shared that companies with a diversity of gender, race, and other factors had increased revenue of 41%. Having this mix of experience and perspectives allows companies to be more creative, conduct better problem solving, and post higher returns than companies that all look alike. Think of a baseball team that consists of only catchers. Sure they can share equipment, tell great stories amongst each other and, relate to each other. They probably won't be as successful as companies with a mix of skills. 3. Intrapreneurial focused I say this a lot in my blogs and podcasts. Identifying and developing intrapreneurs is important if your company is going to be at the forefront of developing new products and services. Especially today, what used to work great, probably won't cut it. Good ideas won't come from only your C-suite or maybe not your next layer down. At a certain point, people focus on protection not being creative. Look everywhere for people with great ideas and put an infrastructure in place to support internal intrapreneurs. 4. Create supportive environments Leadership is more than a title. Do people follow you because they have to or because you've developed a supportive, trusting, and rewarding environment? Have you developed a culture where employees want to be a part of and thrive? Great leaders do three things: Cast a vision, hire the absolute best talent they can, and make sure everyone has the drive and support to succeed. Make yourself available to those you lead as a servant leader. This is what future leadership looks like. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here)More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/what-the-future-of-leadership-looks-like/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan  Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Lean accounting may not sound very exciting, but this podcast episode with Jerry Solomon brings all kinds of energy and excitement! Jerry shares how he moved from an accounting role into VP of Operations roles and shares the struggles of getting business performance information that employees can use to make improvements. These are some key points taken from my interview with Lean accounting expert Jerry Solomon.  I was asked to move from the COO position to running operations. What a difference. I went from being a provider of information to a consumer and saw some big problems.  "We felt people in offices working on spreadsheets know better. It doesn't work that way! I saw how excited people can get, how they want to help us solve problems"  "People want to know the score an Lean accounting helps." "We did everything on our Lean journey, 5, setup reduction, then you realize you need to take it seriously. We implemented four value streams from beginning to end. Changed financial reporting." "We empowered the people to run the business, put visuals in place." "We tripled the growth rate in that part of the business."  To hear Jerry's interview please join us on the podcast at http://www.americanlean.com/podcast (Americanlean.com) episode fifty-two. As always, it is an honor to serve you and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here)More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/keep-better-score-with-lean-accounting/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan  Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

A digital twin allows companies to develop a digital version of any scenario they might face in the physical world. Businesses can research, create, test, simulate, and prepare for any scenario they think occurs. Digital twins can optimize your operations. There are many practical uses for digital twins. Digital twins can model and optimize any part of a business. Here are a few use areas. 1.    When designing buildings Digital twins allow engineers and architects to develop models based on the location of the building. They can simulate the movement of the building as it sinks into the ground. Modeling the building and how it will change over time- think sinking further into the ground- allows for identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities before they occur.  This saves money and potential catastrophes. I bet the Leaning Tower of Pisa would have liked this technology. I remember when I was an engineering student at the University of Cincinnati, and they built a new library while I was there. By the time I graduated, the library was already sinking. The story was, they hadn't accounted for the weight of the books. I don't know if this is true, but I'm sure a digital twin would have helped them model that. 2.    Troubleshooting and optimization These are two areas where digital twins benefit your organization the most. Traditional research and development require vast amounts of data collection and physical resources to check every potential outcome. Instead of using physical resources, a digital twin can simulate the scenarios using data.   The predictions provided are almost identical and cost much less than using physical resources. 3.    Maintenance optimization Tesla builds a digital twin of every car model they produce. They use the digital twin to collect data from their cars in service. They collect and share information with cars on the road. If the digital twin allows Tesla to predict any maintenance issues for their fleet and fix many maintenance items remotely. If they sense a rattle in a door, they can send an update that adjusts the hydraulics of that door. 4.    Agriculture optimization Plant and food researchers from America have compiled over 30 years of https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC2010/S00046/scientists-are-cracking-the-code-to-kiwifruit-pollination-success-using-a-digital-twin.htm (Kiwi farm pollination) data to develop digital twins of the farms. The complex digital twins enable scientists to model several factors at once. In this case the modeling of plants and pollinating bees. To conduct the experiments in real life, testing only six variables, would require more kiwi farms than exist in New Zealand. The interesting results they learned from the model is the optimum number of female flowers is 65%. The ideal number of bees is 6-8 bees per 1000 plants and diminishes if more bees are used. I don't know about you, but 1000 plants per 8 bees sound like a lot of work. I guess that's where the saying busy as a bee comes from.  It's clear to see that digital twins can optimize your operations regardless of your industry. As always, it's an honor to serve you, and I hope this helps you and your organization get a little better today. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/digital-twins-can-optimize-your-operations-even-a-kiwi-farm/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

Is your organization preparing their strategic planning efforts for next year? I'm sure everyone is eager to complete 2020 and move on. Regardless of how your business has changed, one thing that shouldn't change is your True North. Your True North doesn't change. It is the guiding element that your company truly believes in. Your culture develops because of your True North. Your decision making follows your True North. It guides everything in your organization. If you have outgrown your original True North, then it makes sense to review it. I'm sure some elements will remain regardless of how your company has grown. How you treat employees and customers might remain the same. How you operate your business within your city will probably remain the same. What might change? If you say the company will deliver year over year increased sales of 20% for the company, that might need to be adjusted. If you have certain shareholder return numbers in your True North, you might need to review those numbers. If you want to know what framework I use with companies to develop their True North and develop their Strategic Plan for the year, it is called the Lean Game Plan and consists of four simple steps: 1. Define your championship (Vision)- The first step is for leadership to agree upon what the True North is for the organization. This translates into a Lean Management System. Leaders must agree upon a few Key Performance Indicators that measure the performance of the business.  I had a client whose mantra was to measure what matters. They went from measuring thirty KPI's to about six. Guess what? They gained much more clarity in their business decision making and they made rapid gains in a short period. Establish a Lean Game Plan that includes Lean activities scheduled a quarter at a time. 2. Employee training camps- This should go without saying, but I've seen many organizations skip this step or try to take shortcuts. It is important to train everyone in the organization on basic lean concepts. You aren't trying to make them experts but expose them to Lean concepts. This helps provide a background they can rely on when they take part in RIE's. 3. Follow the Lean Game Plan- Using Value Stream Mapping as your backbone, identify waste in your processes. Focus on removing the waste using Rapid Improvement Events or Kaizen. Schedule the events a quarter at a time and make sure they occur.  Ensure teams have a report-out after every event. Video the report-out in case members of leadership can't attend in person. They can watch the recording and provide positive feedback to the participants after the report out. That feedback is a key ingredient in generating employee engagement and culture change. 4. Half time adjustments- Review your RIE library quarterly. After you have been conducting RIE's for a while, you will develop a library of events that are completed.  Have a monthly meeting to review the events, formally close events, and ensure you are sustaining the gains. If you are not seeing improvement to your KPI's after two quarters, don't be afraid to make changes. Sports teams often make half-time course corrections and you should do the same! The organizations I have coached over the years that adopt this simple framework have better results compared to organizations that don't. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/during-strategic-planning-your-true-north-doesnt-change/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach...

In a recent https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/library/consumer-intelligence-series/future-of-customer-experience.html (PwC) study, 80% of American consumers say that speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service are the most important elements of a positive experience. How does your organization measure against those elements? It's important to realize that your culture drives your customer experience. If you want a better customer experience, work on improving your culture. This article points out that 59% of customers will quit doing business with a company after repeated unpleasant experiences. Imagine losing 60% of your customers over the next year because of bad customer experiences. Your culture, now more than ever being driven remotely, is the largest element that will affect your customer experience. How can you support a customer experience-driven culture? 1. Start with Values Your culture can develop over time. It can change as you grow or enter new markets. It's who you are and who you want to be. Values are part of your True North. Values should drive the culture. Values are fixed and are what you reflect on when you need to make decisions. Without a True North, and the values of the company what culture do you think will develop? If there is no guidance, who knows what will emerge. Chances are it won't focus on the customer experience. 2.  Who you hire is who your customers will meet  This isn't just customer service employees. This includes everyone in the organization. Maybe they won't meet the accounts payable clerk, but if you make hiring decisions as if your customers will meet this person, what do you think happens to your customer experience?   When everyone in the company is focused on delivering an exceptional customer experience, your organization will blow everyone else away! Customer experience will become a True North when you hire across the company this way. 3. Measure your company culture Yes, company culture can be measured. While not as exact as measuring output per hour or the number of clicks on a website, there are several aspects you can measure. NPS or Net Promoter Score is a measure of how willing you are to promote a company. It asks a simple question “On a scale of 1-10 how likely is it you would recommend brand X to a friend?” A rating of 9-10 is a promoter, 7-8 is neutral and < 7 is a detractor. This is why the first question on many surveys is how likely are you to recommend X to a friend and then it gives you a 1-10 scale. They are collecting their NPS information. You can conduct an NPS for your company internally to measure your culture. Instead of asking if they would recommend brand X, you might ask, “How likely are you to recommend our company as a great place to work?”  Realize that if you go to the trouble to ask, make sure you provide honest feedback to your workforce. Be prepared that your culture isn't where you want it right now. That's great. At least you know what you can improve upon. This information helps you realize that your culture drives your customer experience! As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/your-culture-drives-your-customer-experience/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

The reports of companies stating they will allow employees to work from home forever are growing every day. Twitter, Square (same CEO), Shopify, Slack, Facebook, are a few of the tech companies stating employees can work from home indefinitely. Many fintech companies like Mastercard, Capital One, and others are allowing employees to work from home. Leading this way will require a different set of leadership skills. Here are four leadership skills for the WFH future. 1. How to virtually engage employees When employees can't get into a room and see reactions to conversations, when they can't shake hands and commit to a course of action, it is hard to engage employees. Much of the communication cues we pick up are non-verbal cues. Leaders will have to learn how to discern employee engagement and support for ideas and company initiatives using remote methods. They will have to learn how to shorten their communication when introducing key initiatives to keep everyone's attention and ensure they leave time to answer group questions. Leaders will have to put more effort into reaching out individually since some employees might remain quiet on group zoom calls. This will require more time but increased engagement is worth it. 2. How to interview, hire and train employees remotely The first step in the hiring process often begins with a phone call. Then prospective employees are invited into an office to meet others in the company. This lets everyone get to know each other. What will there be to show people around? Will you show them processes or systems they might use if hired? What type of training might be involved? How will your company differentiate itself from other companies after the same candidate? Virtual interviews might all look and feel alike. Think about ways you can step up your virtual game to separate your company in the candidate's mind.  3. How to measure productivity based on results, not hours Early on in my career, I remember one of the older industrial engineers used to say, “It doesn't take an Industrial engineer 8 hours to do 8 hours' worth of work.” His point was since IE's are supposed to be efficiency experts, we should be able to do the work in less than 8 hours. I've been in companies where managers lingered near the doors when it came close to quitting time to see if anyone was leaving 5 minutes early. Who cares?  As a leader, it's important to measure the correct KPI's in place to measure results not hours worked. If you have professionals that are knowledge workers, measure results not hours.  4. How to identify and foster intrapreneurship  The status quo within your business will not cut if moving forward. Your key job as a leader is to develop a culture of creativity and identify employees who want to drive new ideas in your company. Your intrapreneurs.  Look for employees who question how things are done. Search for employees who offer suggestions for improving processes. Listen to new ideas from your employees, these are people who want to develop new products or offerings. Take advantage of their creativity! Make sure you establish the right infrastructure for them to succeed! There are attributes your culture has to have to support the intrapreneurs. If you need help, reach out and I'll be glad to help! These four are just a few leadership skills for the WFH future you will need to master. As always, it is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/four-leadership-skills-for-the-wfh-future/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on...

One of the key elements on my American Lean Weekday podcast is the weekly interviews that I conduct with companies on their Lean Journey. These companies are from various industries and are all different sizes. I have interviewed leaders from family-owned businesses to multi-national organizations. These are keynotes from a conversation with MD Engineering. http://www.mdengineeringonline.com (MD Engineering )founded in 1999 and located in Corona, California is a nationally recognized leading producer and distributor of quality machined products providing parts to the military, industrial and commercial manufacturers worldwide. They are a leading supplier of complex machined parts, assemblies, and “buy complete” components to the commercial aerospace, military, and contract manufacturing industries. With a strategic focus on http://www.mdengineeringonline.com/lean-manufacturing/ (lean manufacturing), they manufacture and assemble tight tolerance and short lead-time projects based on customers' demands. These are some key points taken from my interview with the Chief Operations Officer Ryan Cortes.  MD began its Lean journey in 2009. They have been aggressively pursuing change for eleven years".  "One of the things that we learned early on was the principles that Lean talks about were true! We ended the year with great sales dollars but had no cash in the bank. It was all tied up in inventory!"  "If you have a dollar in cash you can spend it if you have a dollar tied up in inventory- you can't do anything with it. Cash is king in a small business." "Lean absolutely applies in a machine shop setting. I can't think of a company that Lean is more applicable in than a machine shop." I would get some training as you begin your Lean journey. I don't think the theory sinks in at first for the average person. I wasn't optimistic about what Lean could do for us. I was trying to appease a customer. But as I learned more about it and MD Engineering embraced it, there is no doubt we would not have enjoyed the growth that we have had without a Lean transformation.  To hear Ryan's interview please join us on the podcast at http://www.americanlean.com/podcast (Americanlean.com) episode forty-seven. As always, it is an honor to serve you and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/md-engineerings-lean-journey-helped-them-free-cash-to-grow/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

I'm always searching for articles to gather information to share with you regarding Industry 4.0 and other topics. Two weeks ago I mentioned how Porsche and Bugatti are 3D printing brake calipers and replacement parts for their cars. This week, I want to share how Mercedes Benz is taking a holistic approach to Industry 4.0 technologies to integrate all their plants together and the savings they expect. It is called MO360 (Mercedes Benz Car Operations) 360. MO360 is a suite of software applications that gathers and integrates real-time information to provide information to operators across a simple user interface. About 30 facilities worldwide are taking advantage of parts of the software. What does Mercedes hope to gain? 1. Rapid software sprintsThey use cross-functional teams with production and IT support to develop the software ecosystem. According to Daimler CIO- Jan Brecht- “Organizational boundaries no longer have a role to play. All teams systematically utilize continuous feedback from production to optimize and enhance digital tools.” The sprints are two weeks long and focus on adding perceptible user benefits. According to Brecht “For software engineering in the field of production, that is an absolute record.” 2. Paperless manufacturingMercedes just opened a brand new factory in Sindelfingen, Germany. It is referred to as factory 56 and will the testbed for everything Mercedes does regarding MO360. The factory is designed with 5G mobile technology built-in so that all sensors, equipment, and systems can communicate with each other. The system knows by the inch the location of each vehicle in the factory. Operators use a digital information system that gives them the information they need to work on the vehicle in front of them. All inspection forms are completed digitally. It's estimated this will save 10M tons of paper annually! 3. Real-time quality informationMercedes is using a system called Quality Live inside of MO360 that gives employees push-button real-time quality status of any vehicle. Any non-conformances are taken care of before the car reaches the end of the assembly line. MO360 monitors quality issues and using Artificial Intelligence, offers process improvements based upon analyzing the quality data. 4. KPI'sThe MO360 system provides up to the minute KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) so production leaders can react to what is happening on the production line. Adjustments to schedules, sequences, etc. are shared instantly with suppliers. 5. TPMWhen all plants throughout the world connect to MO360, the system will monitor and learn from maintenance occurrences. The system will offer predictive maintenance and plan the maintenance outage for an optimal time. As an example, as the system learns that a motor driving a conveyor belt fails after 50,000 hours, it can schedule replacements throughout the system and keep the correct number of motors on hand for replacement. This helps save MRO spend on this huge organization. I hope enjoyed learning how Mercedes Benz is taking a holistic approach to Industry 4.0! I know I like bringing you this information. As always, it's an honor to serve you, and I hope this helps you and your organization get a little better today. http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/mercedes-benz-is-taking-a-holistic-approach-to-industry-4-0/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)

One of Henry Ford's sayings is that “Coming together is the beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is a success.” Grand words from a great Lean influencer. The tendency might be to put off your Lean activities given the current environment. I believe it's more important than ever to keep your Lean journey moving forward! I still coach companies and lead Rapid Improvement Events in today's environment. We all wear masks and stay six feet from each other as much as possible. We can still use our most important attribute- our brains to solve problems and improve processes. Here are some activities you can do to keep your lean journey moving forward. 1. Rationalize inventory & product offeringsWhy start here? Chances are your customer's buying patterns have changed since March 2020. It's time to look at those buying patterns and understand if there are products they aren't buying anymore. The flip side is also true. Are there products they are buying more of? Regardless, it's a great time to evaluate your inventory and product offerings. My bet is you can conduct some inventory and product rationalization. 2. Re-design your linesIf you have had a change in mix and volume, it is a great time to re-design the lines that make your product. Are you taking advantage of the powerful tools of mixed-model lines? These can support a daily change in mix and volume easier than fixed volume lines. There are ways to calculate exactly how many resources of both people and machines are required to produce any mix. After you conduct your rationalization, design efficient ways to produce your product. 3. Focus on the customer journeyHow are your customers buying your product now? Are they placing orders through your website? Are they picking up the phone? I doubt they are asking for your sales team to come to visit them. What can you do to keep the relationships with the customers you have? Focus on understanding the customer journey and removing friction from that process. Remember, people like to do business with people they know like, and trust. What can you do to keep your great relationships with your customers? 4. Train employeesMany organizations put off training until the last minute. I don't know why, but they do. Is there required training you can conduct with your employees? Are there audits that need to be conducted? Is there re-certification training you can conduct? What about lean training? While I don't deliver training that way, there is no shortage of on-line lean training that you can attend. Just make sure there is some activity required after the training, so your employees learn how to use whatever they just learned. As you can see, now is not the time to stop. It's more important than ever to keep your lean journey moving forward! It is an honor to serve you, and I hope that you and your company are getting better every day! http://getpodcast.reviews/id/1499224100 (Rate and Review Here) More show notes are https://americanlean.com/blog/keep-your-lean-journey-moving-forward/ (here) https://americanlean.com/contact/ (Schedule a free 1/2 call) with Tom Reed.https://www.amazon.com/dp/1645162818 (Buy) the Lean Game Plan Follow me on https://twitter.com/dailyleancoach (Twitter@dailyleancoach)Join me on https://my.captivate.fm/www.linkedin.com/in/tomreedamericanlean (Linked In)